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posted June 29, 201506:45 PMDoc @ TANJ just sent this to me - please help!

Fellow TANJ & Tradgang members ....

Please complete the form on the below link. This is a good bill and we need to get the Governor to sign it.

Thank You, Gerry Doc DeCaroPresidentTANJ

To all outdoorsmen and women:

NJOA CF council members are pleased to announce that New Jersey’s Senate and Assembly passed with overwhelming support Bills S573/A2443, “Apprentice Firearm Hunting License and Apprentice Bow and Arrow License”.

Contact Governor Christie and ask him to sign the Bill into law. It is not only good public policy, but also helps protect the future of hunting for current and future generations! Here's a NJOA link with a prewritten letter that can be sent by email (or printed and mailed) to Governor Christie ~

Summary:Bills S573/A2443, “Apprentice Firearm Hunting License and Apprentice Bow and Arrow License”allow for any person 21 years age and holding a regular license for firearm or bow and arrow hunting, to be a mentor for an apprentice above 14 years of age. The apprentice must purchase an apprentice license, but would not be required to complete the safety course. Thirty-three states currently sell Apprentice or Mentored Hunting Licenses. Two states adopted the alternative approach of simply lowering minimum hunting ages.

The bill would limit the number of times a person may be issued a given type of apprentice license to twice in a lifetime. The mentor is subject to all penalties for violations committed by the apprentice while under his or her direct supervision.

The licenses would expire on December 31 of the year of issue.

More information: People 14 years and older can hunt in NJ – unsupervised – with the hunter safety course. This bill will allow those 14 years and older to hunt supervised.

Most hunters are introduced to hunting by a parent. Currently, hunters ages 25-54—adults likely to have children mature enough to be introduced and mentored in hunting—represent a large proportion, 64 percent, of hunters. Parents should be free to decide when their children are mature enough for hunting. Bill S573/A2443 has set the age at 14 years-of-age (in many states the age is 10), with a mentor of at least 21 years-of-age..

“Supervised” adult and youth hunters are “especially safe”. National statistics show that young hunters, particularly those supervised by an attentive parent or other responsible adult, compose a fraction of the hunting-related firearms incidents that occur each year. Researchers found that most youth hunter incidents occurred in the absence of an adult.